Short Takes  

Bloomberg reports that Goldman Sachs is predicting an oil price of $141 a barrel for the second half of the year.

Andrew McNamara has been making some rather radical pronouncements about peak oil in the Queensland press ahead of the release of his report, rather boldly saying "looming oil shortages would produce the biggest change in society since the industrial revolution".

AFP reports there has been a "massive pipeline explosion in Nigeria".

Earth2Tech has a look at the pros and cons of Distributed Rooftop Solar vs. Desert Solar Thermal.

The Energy Blog notes the "world's largest windfarm" is to be built off the coast of the UK. At 500 MW I doubt it will be the largest when it is finished.

The Boston Globe reports that documents have been uncovered linking a group opposing wind farms to an "international energy conglomerate" that produces fossil fuels.

PG&E has a new energy / environment blog called "Next 100" - one recent report looks at issues surrounding the use of wind power in California.

Grist has a comparison of subsidies for nuclear power vs wind power over the years, showing just what a glutton for taxpayer dollars nuclear power has been (compared to a tiny investment in wind).

EWcoGeek has a post on a "self cleaning windows" product from Denmark called ShineOn that can keep windows "free from dirt and grime for up to two years".

Tyler at Clean Break notes that Grocery manufacturers in North America have launched a PR campaign against biofuels.

The oil Drum has a thought (and argument) provoking piece called "Biofuels and the Rise of Nationalistic Environmentalism" that looks at the prospects for an emergence of ugly green nationalism. It seems to lump "natural capitalism" followers (in which I'd include most cleantech types, including myself) in with the promoters of corn based ethanol and other biofuels, which I'd argue is completely wrong (Vinod Khosla aside of course, though even he calls them a temporary stepping stone).

TreeHugger points to a excellent comparison chart outlining the details of various forms of biofuel, demonstrating that until a breakthrough arises in cellulosic ethanol or algae based biofuel, these are at best a sideshow.



Jamais Cascio has a look at "The Suburban Question" - "How do you green the suburbs?". Jamais also does some scenario modelling around "How many earths ?" (would it take to support the world's population if everyone lived like Americans).

Jeff Vail has an interesting essay on "Giving up the car". Jeff also has a post on what seems to be the Democratic equivalent of PNAC - "CNAS" - though he doesn't hold much hope for them being any more successful than their bloodthirsty neocon predecessors.

The New York Times reports that the US is building a huge new prison in Afghanistan.

And finally, The Onion reports that "Everything Is Falling Apart', based on pronouncements from the"Institute For Somehow Managing To Hold It All Together".